Afghan football chief accused of seeking $10,000 bribe for national team place

<ul><li><p>AFF president recorded talking to Australia-based player’s brother</p></li><li><p>Mohammad Yousef Kargar denies accuracy of leaked recordings</p></li></ul><p>The president of the Afghanistan football federation (AFF) has been accused of demanding a $10,000 (£7,400) bribe to secure a spot for a player on the national team. In leaked recordings, Mohammad Yousef Kargar is heard discussing how to transfer the payment with the brother of Nesar Ahmad Mohmand, who was being considered for a spot in the team’s training camp in Thailand. Kargar has denied the allegations and claimed the recordings were “nothing but conspiracies and fabrications”.</p><p>Mehman, who plays in the second tier of Australian football, was spotted at the end of last year during an annual tournament in Melbourne organised by the Afghan diaspora. Kargar invited him to join up with the national team for the training camp in March and sent an invitation letter to his club, Stockton Sharks. But in recordings aired this month by Afghanistan International TV –which is based in London and has been banned by the Taliban – Kargar is heard asking for the $10,000 payment to be transferred to the account of one of his close associates.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/23/afghan-football-chief-accused-of-seeking-10000-dollar-bribe-for-national-team-place">Continue reading...</a>